Revolution get back to work against the Red Bulls

After and abbreviated preseason followed by a congested start to the MLS campaign, the Revolution was a team in need of the three Rs.

Rest, rejuvenate and refocus.

The Revolution (1-2-1) resume MLS play after a 13-day international break when they engage the New York Red Bulls (2-1-1) on Saturday night (7:30 p.m.) at Gillette Stadium.

“It’s been really difficult and I give the players a lot of credit, they hung in there in there in some really difficult and challenging times,” said Revolution head coach Bruce Arena.

“Over the last week and a half, we’ve been able to get settled in a little bit more. But I think we’ve made progress since last week and hopefully we can play a good game against the Red Bulls on Saturday.”

After battling to a 2-2 draw at Portland in the season opener on Feb. 26, the Revolution embarked of a frantic stretch of five games over 15 days involving two counties.

The binge got off to a good start with a 1-0 victory over FC Dallas followed by a 3-0 win against Pumas UNAM of Liga MX in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Both games were played under adverse weather conditions at Gillette Stadium.

But things quickly went sideways on the Revolution. The Revs gave up three unanswered goals in the second half in a disheartening 3-2 loss to Real Salt Lake at Gillette on March 12. The Revs travelled to Mexico City for the second leg against Pumas where they lost 3-0 and were beaten in a shootout, eliminating them from the Champions League. That was followed by an inexplicable 3-1 road loss to the expansion Charlotte FC on March 19. The FIFA break came at the right time, preventing an extended downward spiral from taking hold.

“Yeah, it was a really tough stretch for us,” said veteran striker Jozy Altidore, who began his MLS career with the Red Bulls in 2006 under Arena. “We intended to give it our all in the SCCL and reach the semifinal and we just couldn’t.

“We had some bad luck with penalties against Pumas. Then we went to Charlotte and that was a tough place to play against a good team. We made mistakes and we couldn’t get the win. These past few days to rest up a little bit, think about things a little bit and get some guys who were injured back to full strength are very important for us.

“Now we have a tough opponent in the Red Bulls, but we have to put our best foot forward and get three points. This is an important game for us as are all our home games.”

Altidore is seventh among active MLS players with 78 goals and his 42 goals in 115 international appearances with the U.S. men’s national team are third most in team history. The Revolution acquired Altidore via free agency on Feb. 14 after a seven-year run with Toronto FC.